World Social Forum

The World Social Forum: Another World Is Possible!

Website: worldsocialforum.org redirecting to forumsocialmundial.org.br

WSF's charter of principles states that it is not an organization or a united front platform. It is an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and inter-linking for effective action, by groups and movements of civil society that are opposed to neo- liberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are committed to building a society centered on the human person.

Three World Social Forums have been held (annually) since 2001 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The World Social Forum 2003 website

The World Social Forum 2004 was held in India from January 16-21
 * More than 80,000 people from approximately 2,660 organisations have registered from 132 countries. Over 1,200 events will be organised over the six days.
 * Online news coverage is available from TerraViva, an independent publication of IPS-Inter Press Service

The World Social Forum 2005 was back in Porto Alegre, Brazil. 

The sixth edition of the World Social Forum will be polycentric, which means that it will be decentralized, taking place in different parts of the world, in January 2006. Up to now, three cities will host the 6th WSF: Bamako (Mali-Africa), Caracas (Venezuela – Americas) and Karachi (Pakistan-Asia).

Past Regional Social Forums

 * America's Social Forum in Quito, Ecuador on 8-13 March 2004
 * Boston Social Forum, 23-25 July 2004 www.bostonsocialforum.org
 * Ontario Regional Social Forum June 23-26 2005

2006 Region Social Forum

 * Midwest Social Forum in Milwaukee, WI, July 6-9, 2006

Critical Resources

 * "NGOs and Global Conferences: World Social Forum", Global Policy Forum (a useful list of articles)
 * UE Vermont
 * http://www.ukabc.org/wsf2003.htm
 * European Social Forum will look for an economic model that could become an alternative to capital-led globalisation.
 * "Bush to be Enemy Number One at World Anti-Globalization Meet in Bombay", Agence France Presse, January 9, 2004.
 * Anthony Barnett, "The Three Faces of the World Social Forum", openDemocracy, January 30, 2007.
 * Laurence Caramel, "World Social Forum Activists Reorganize to Face Critics", Le Monde, January 25, 2005.
 * Tajudeen Abdul Raheem, "World Social Forum Winds-Up in Nairobi", pambazuka, 2007-01-26, Issue 288.
 * Patrick Bond, "From WSF 'NGO trade fair' to left politics?", Znet, February 1, 2007.
 * Norman Stockwell, "Looking Back at the 7th World Social Forum", Zmag, April 2007.
 * Research Unit for Political Economy, "Foundations and Mass Movements: The Case of the World Social Forum," Critical Sociology, 33 (3), 2007.
 * Michael Albert and Katja Kipping, "WSF?", Interview for Prague Spring, Znet, August 14, 2009.
 * Pierre Rousset, "The World Social Forum, A Sustainable Model?", Socialist Project, E-Bulletin No. 271, November 9, 2009.

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Francisco Whitaker - Key Founder
 * Oded Grajew - Founder
 * New Economics Foundation
 * IBASE
 * April Biccum - Critic
 * Flavio Lotti
 * Michael Leon Guerrero
 * Demba Moussa Dembele